"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon, us that we should be called the sons of God." (.1 John 3:1.)
Man's opinions and opposition to the grace of God do not alter the truth of scripture. What He hath said will stand forever! For " God is not a man that he should lie, neither the Son of man that he should repent; hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" What a marvelous blessing to have a revelation from God in the written word, on which to rest one's soul as to eternity: and to know that God not only teaches doctrine, but is the Giver of eternal life to everyone that believeth on His Son! Oh, the blessedness of the divine authority of the wondrous gospel which endureth forever! How assuring are the imperishable words of Him who said, " Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away!"
The fact that those who have the Son of God as their Savior, have now the gift of eternal life is plainly enough taught in holy scripture. Not only did the Savior speak of those who have "passed from death unto life," and that he that believeth on Him "hath everlasting life." but He declared its absolute necessity, when He said, " Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again [or anew], he cannot see the kingdom of God/é In this Epistle we also read, " We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." The absence of brotherly love is also stated as a proof that such have not eternal life, for it is added, " He that loveth not his brother abideth in death;" whatever his profession may have been, he is still dead in trespasses and in sins. How simple, and yet how very solemn! We see then that scripture speaks of some on earth who know that they have life -eternal life. Observe, it does not say who feel it, but who know it as a divine certainty. And John tells us that one object he had in writing this Epistle was that we should know it, be fully assured of it, without any question or misgiving. He says, " These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life." (1 John 5:13.) It is evident, then, that the denial of the present gift of eternal life is the virtual denial of Christianity. Thank God, He knew our deep need, our helplessness as well as our sinfulness, and He has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Thus being in Christ, alive in Him, we are a new creation; and having life, Christ in us, can think, and feel, and act, in our finite measure, according to God, as strengthened by His Spirit and truth. We love what He loves, and hate what He hates. In this way, the reality of having eternal life is demonstrated in the intelligence, affections, objects and ways of a child of God. Moreover, our Lord said, that God gave His Son that we might have everlasting life. It is also written, that " He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son [or is not subject to the Son] shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." (John 3:36.)
Divine love then is the source of all our blessings. God loved us when we were yet sinners. Every believer loves Him, but His love is first. "We love him because he first loved us." The spring and power of our love to Him is that He loved us first. Thus divine love subdued our wills, melted our cold hearts, attracted and won us for Christ. We saw in Him an object of eternal worth, unfading beauty, imperishable blessedness, and unchanging attractiveness. The cords of love drew us, His eternal excellencies made everything else seem poor. His gracious words bound up our sin-stricken souls, His precious blood brought us title to glory, His triumphant resurrection gave us confidence; a glimpse by faith of the glorified Son of man banished every doubt, while His presentation of Himself as " the bright and morning star/' moved the hearty response within us of a Come." Oh, the exceeding riches of divine grace in His kindness to us-ward 1 Surely the child of God can say -" He saw me ruined in the fall, And loved me notwithstanding all; He saved me from my lost estate, His loving-kindness, Ο how great!"
We are taught in scripture that "love is of God." He is its source. He loves, for " God is love." It is His nature. He is "light" detecting everything, and convicting; and He is " love," and has manifested it in having redeemed and brought us to Himself. We were not only in the dark, but we were " darkness," yet have been brought into the light, and are now " light in the Lord.' We are not merely to walk up to our light, as some say, but to " walk in the light, as he is in the light." We are to let the light—Christ in us—shine, and thus show forth the characteristics of Him who hath called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Thus divine love has reached us, and blessed us. Life eternal has been given to us in the Son, and our guilt has been removed by the sin-cleansing power of His precious blood.
The "manner of love" bestowed upon us, has been to bring us into the highest order of relationship with God as His creatures- children; children by birth, for we are born of God. Nothing can be higher than Sonship. He might have been pleased to save us from coming wrath, and to have brought us into heaven in the lowest possible rank of intelligent beings there, but that would not have suited the deep eternal love of the Fathers heart, nor would it have put that honor upon the accomplished work of Christ which it merited. Christ has therefore not only suffered for sins that He might bring us to God. but He has brought us into the same relationship to God as Himself. His first service, after He rose from the dead, was to acquaint His loved ones of this new and dear relationship. He said to Mary, " Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." (John 20:17.) And so it is written in this epistle, "Beloved, now are we the sons [or children] of God." Well might the apostle have also so touchingly called our attention to it by saying, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons [or children] of God." Marvelous relationship! How it attracts us to God, and gives us access with confidence into His holy presence! We learn too, from other scriptures, that the purpose of God is that we shall be "conformed to the image of his Son," that even our bodies of humiliation shall be changed and fashioned like unto His glorious body. With this also the Father's eternal purpose sweetly harmonizes, in having "chosen us in him [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself^ according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace." (Eph. 1:4-7.) Thus divine love has called us into the endearing relationship of children, into the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.